Headache in the Rural Village of Quiroga, Ecuador

SYNOPSIS Epidemiologic studies on headache among the Mestizo population in the rural village of Quiroga, Ecuador, was carried out as part of a neuroepidemiologic project under sponsorship of the World Health Organization. The distribution and prevalence of headache according to age and sex taken from a sample of 1113 persons is reported. Of the total number of headache sufferers, 35% gave a history of only occasional headache; these were equally divided among males and females. The remainder or 65% regarded their headaches as severe or disabling; 81% were female. Of these, 43% described migrainous headaches. Among the males the headache classification was 77% tension‐type and 23% migrainous. The overall prevalence of migraine (both common and classical) was 11/1000 for males and 61.5/1000 for females. In a preliminary investigation of the association of headache and depression, 63% of 19 female sufferers scored clearly in the depressed range.